The art of massage is becoming increasingly popular as people become more informed as to the benefits to be derived from a massage. A massage is useful in loosening tight muscles due to overwork or exercise, relieving tension, and to generally improve the feeling of well-being. To facilitate a good massage, it is recommended that the person to be treated be provided with a flat surface on which he can recline, and that the flat surface be somewhat elevated above the floor to eliminate the masseuse having to bend over to reach the various parts of the body being massaged. There are professional massage tables available, and these generally tend to be quite massive with a strong supporting framework and are thus quite heavy. Needless to say, these tables are neither portable nor suitable for home use because of their expense.
Still another trend to be found in the public today is the increasing awareness of physical fitness, and the benefits to be received by toning the body's muscles through exercise. There are complete exercise routines which have been developed which utilize an inclined board or exercise table which the user rests on as he works out. This group of exercises is virtually unlimited in its variety and includes such exercises as sit-ups, leg lifts, side leg lifts, push ups, and others which are well known and which exercise virtually every muscle group in the body. There are presently available incline boards which can be attached to walls, or other supporting structures to facilitate the sit-up exercise. These boards are generally intended to be used on a sharp incline, and almost exclusively for the sit-up exercise. They are generally one piece, and are very inconvenient to transport because of their size.
Not only are these two trends over increasing in polularity, but there are many individuals who are increasingly interested in both trends, and who would be acutely interested in a single table which would be portable, have collapsible and/or removable legs to permit the table surface to be adjusted for the various different positions desired, and which could be folded into a smaller size to facilitate its storage or portability when not in use.
To satisfy this need, and provide a single multi-purpose table which has features permitting it to be used for both massage and for inclined exercise, the inventor herein has succeeded in developing a multi-purpose, collapsible, portable table with a pair of table halves hinged together at an end, with a first group of table legs to support the table in a substantially planar and horizontal orientation for massage, and a second group of table legs to support the table surface in a substantially planar and inclined orientation for exercise, with all of the removable legs and folding legs being adapted for storage along the backs of the table halves such that as the table halves are folded together, all of the legs are enclosed between the table halves and straps can be used to fasten the table halves together.
The first group of legs for supporting the table surface in a substantially planar and horizontal orientation includes a pair of folding legs, each folding leg being hinged to each table half and each folding leg having a pair of leg members to contact the floor in a spaced-apart fashion to provide a wide base for supporting the table during use. Additionally, a pair of removable table legs having the same height as the folding legs may be screwed into threaded receptacles, one receptacle being on either side of the hinge joining the two table halves, and positioned in a diagonal manner across from one another. Thus, the first group of table legs has six different legs contacting the floor, or three legs for each table half with legs immediately adjacent the hinge and on opposite sides thereof to provide additional added support at the hinge.
The second group of legs is comprised of removable table legs which are threaded at one end and screwed into threaded receptacles spaced along the back of the table halves. Each table half has three threaded receptacles for receiving these removable table legs, two at either outside corner, and one at the fourth corner of each table half. Thus, in the incline position, there are six table legs contacting the floor which support the table surface in a sturdy manner as required for exercise. To achieve an incline, each of the six threaded receptacles are canted with respect to the table, every receptacle being canted at substantially the same angle to provide a firm, solid inclined support for exercise purposes.
While a few of the advantages and features of the invention have been described, a greater understanding of the invention may be achieved by reviewing the drawings and reading the description of the preferred embodiment which follows.